The challenges for Peru’s mango producers and exports are starting to mount with volumes to China and the rest of Asia as well as other markets much lower. They also have to compete with Brazil’s lower mango prices. “For this new 2023-2024 season we plan to do 1,000 pallets. But, this year is very challenging because the season is late, there is not much flowering in the fields, the input prices of the field are high as well and the demand is not as expected. There is mango from Brazil at a lower price, which complicates the situation a little more,” says Ana Cotrina, a commercial specialist from the exporter Añay Peruvian Fruits.
Añay Peruvian Fruits is an exporter of fresh products such as mangoes, avocados and asparagus. Their administrative office is in Lima, but they process mangoes in Tambogrande, Piura at the packing house Interfruits. The Company has a 19 hectarE farm in Tambogrande, and work hand-in-hand with small and big growers in Piura and Casma.
“Añay, which in the ancestral language of the Andes means thank you. Since the start of the company we were supplying the local market with different fruits, including mangoes, but a strong potential was seen in the foreign market. In 2019, Añay started its exports with avocados to the Netherlands and mangoes to Canada. Nevertheless, nowadays our main market is China. Since then, we’ve specialized in sending mangoes by air focusing on the quality and image of the fruit – the first impression is very important to us.”
She says in past few seasons they did well with mango exports to China and the rest of Asia. “Regarding mangoes, during 2019-2020 season, we started sending 274 pallets, 70% of them were sent to China and the other pallets were sent to European Union countries that include Spain, France, Netherlands, Italy, Poland.”
As exporters Añay are responding to the challenges by adding more mango varieties to the list that they export to meet customer demand in the different markets they serve. “We have always worked with the Kent variety, however, this year we sent our first order of the Edward mango variety to Italy. This was a challenge for us, it was our first time working with this variety, but it helped us to understand this variety more closely. On the other hand, we expect to have fruit until March, but the volume will not be the same as what we can get in January or February during the peak of the season. Under normal circumstances, shipments by air start in October and the peak is between November- January. For the shipments by sea, the peak is between January and February,” concludes Cotrina.
Source : Fresh Plaza
